Uckermark county; community of Gerswalde; ruins of Gerswalde Castle: outside view of the gable front; east side of the Castle; Gerswalde Castle; first mentioned in 1256; was most probably built between 1239 and 1250 as a water castle by the Margraves (German: Markgrafen) of Brandenburg; to protect the borders to the North. Between 1271 and 1311; several margraves stayed here. In 1447; the ownership went to the noble von Holtzendorff family. In 1463; the noble von Arnim family took over the castle which became an important headquarter and ancestral seat of the von Arnims. During the Thirty Years`War 1618 - 1648; the castle was totally destroyed; in 1637. Most impressing are the ruins of the keep; the gable front on the east side; the bastion and the"New bower" (German: "Neue Kemenate"); a fine example of a residential tower house with high entrance. Today; it houses the local village museum ("Heimatstube Gerswalde").